Florida Senate - 2009                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 888
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Barcode 137066                          
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: FAV            .                                
                  04/06/2009           .                                
                                       .                                
                                       .                                
                                       .                                
       —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————




       —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
       The Committee on Commerce (Lynn) recommended the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete everything after the enacting clause
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 1. Short title.—This act may be cited as the “Space
    6  Transportation Research and Development Institute Act.”
    7         Section 2. Legislative findings.—The Legislature finds and
    8  declares that the anticipated impacts of the National
    9  Aeronautics and Space Administration’s retirement of the Space
   10  Shuttle program reveal an underlying lack of diversification in
   11  Florida’s space industry. Florida lags significantly behind
   12  other states in high-value, space-related research and
   13  technology development while its space launch industry suffers
   14  from outdated technologies and increased international and
   15  domestic competition. The Legislature finds that the state
   16  should expand statewide involvement in space research and
   17  technology development programs that will leverage and improve
   18  the state’s space transportation industry through
   19  multiuniversity partnerships with industry, the Federal Aviation
   20  Administration, the National Aeronautics and Space
   21  Administration, and the Department of Defense.
   22         Section 3. Paragraph (c) is added to subsection (8) of
   23  section 331.3051, Florida Statutes, to read:
   24         331.3051 Duties of Space Florida.—Space Florida shall:
   25         (8) Carry out its responsibility for research and
   26  development by:
   27         (c)Supporting the development and operation of the Space
   28  Transportation Research and Development Institute, when
   29  possible. Such support may include, but is not limited to:
   30         1.Providing the institute with advisory support for
   31  defining the focus and scope of multiuniversity projects.
   32         2.Providing the institute with access to the Cape
   33  Canaveral Spaceport and other spaceport sites in the state,
   34  including launch, laboratory, and processing facilities for
   35  research and program management.
   36         3.Providing support for the development of the institute
   37  among relevant agencies and policymakers in Washington, D.C.,
   38  and this state.
   39         4.Engaging the institute as a partner in support of space
   40  transportation policy, range and spaceport technology
   41  development, and other space transportation technology programs.
   42         5.Providing support to institute projects through the
   43  Florida-NASA Matching Grant Program as provided in subsection
   44  (10).
   45         Section 4. Section 331.365, Florida Statutes, is created to
   46  read:
   47         331.365Office of Tourism, Trade, and Economic Development;
   48  Space Transportation Research and Development Institute.
   49         (1)There is established within the Office of Tourism,
   50  Trade, and Economic Development a multiuniversity Space
   51  Transportation Research and Development Institute that shall
   52  pursue Federal Aviation Administration sponsorship of a Center
   53  of Excellence focused on high-impact space transportation
   54  research, technology development, and policy analysis
   55  activities. The institute shall be led by Embry-Riddle
   56  Aeronautical University and shall include other public and
   57  private postsecondary academic institutions within and outside
   58  the state. The institute, through its partner institutions,
   59  shall support research focus areas including, but not limited
   60  to, spaceport licensing and safety; range and airspace
   61  management systems development, simulation, and qualification;
   62  spaceflight human factors issues; spaceflight passenger, crew,
   63  and technician training and certification; launch vehicle safety
   64  analysis; materials science for spaceflight; spaceport
   65  instrumentation, technologies, and processes; and other topics
   66  which may be of interest to the Federal Aviation Administration.
   67         (2)The institute shall be established in phases, with the
   68  initial phase focused on developing a management structure,
   69  establishing a formal relationship with the Federal Aviation
   70  Administration, and forming partnerships with academic
   71  institutions and industry. The institute shall provide a
   72  quarterly report to the Office of Tourism, Trade, and Economic
   73  Development on the institute’s activities, relationship status
   74  with the Federal Aviation Administration, research, and
   75  partnerships.
   76         Section 5. This act shall not require the appropriation of
   77  funds or the assignment of personnel resources by the Office of
   78  Tourism, Trade, and Economic Development.
   79         Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009.
   80  
   81  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   82         And the title is amended as follows:
   83         Delete everything before the enacting clause
   84  and insert:
   85                        A bill to be entitled                      
   86         An act relating to the space industry; providing a
   87         short title; providing legislative findings; amending
   88         s. 331.3051, F.S.; expanding the duties of Space
   89         Florida to include supporting the development and
   90         operation of the Space Transportation Research and
   91         Development Institute; creating s. 331.365, F.S.;
   92         establishing the Space Transportation Research and
   93         Development Institute within the Office of Tourism,
   94         Trade, and Economic Development; providing that the
   95         institute is a multiuniversity initiative; providing
   96         purposes and duties of the institute; providing for
   97         the establishment and administration of the institute;
   98         providing that the act does not require appropriation
   99         of funds or assignment of personnel resources by the
  100         Office of Tourism, Trade, and Economic Development;
  101         providing an effective date.